When I first saw previews for Mortal Kombat in the local theater, I had
mixed feelings. The fact that one of my favorite video games had been deemed
good enough to warrant a huge theatrical release was cause for joy, yet I had
some worries. I wasn’t surprised that someone would be able to create a
marketable screenplay from the game as it had an elaborate storyline with an
excess of material. However, I couldn’t help but think back to recent failed
attempts at bringing video games to theater – Street Fighter and Super Mario Bros. Those horrid films made me wonder whether or not anyone could
actually pull it off. Yes, the video game was fun and exciting, with a decent
storyline behind it, but would that transform into a sad, silly movie that would
translate into box office failure? More importantly, would I be wasting my
money watching this film?

Happily, I can
honestly say that this seeing this film on the big screen was not a waste of
money at all. In fact, as the weeks passed, I saw the movie a total of four
times in the theater. As soon as it came out on VHS, I ran to the local video
store and purchased it so I could watch it a dozen more times. Then, years
later, a family member bought the DVD version of Mortal Kombat for me for
Christmas. I couldn’t wait to watch the movie yet again.

Mortal Kombat
centers around three warriors chosen to defend the Earth realm against the
treacherous forces of Outworld in a series of tournaments. These tournaments
are fought by the fiercest warriors of both realms on a mysterious island. If
Outworld wins ten such tournaments, its emperor, Shao Kahn, can invade the Earth
realm, capturing and enslaving it for his own evil purposes. At the time of
this movie, the warriors of Outworld have won nine tournaments. Shao Kahn sends
his servant/wizardShang Tsung to round up the warriors of Earth for what may
conceivably be the final battle for Earth. Although many warriors are chosen
for the honor, Raiden, Shaolin God of Thunder, believes that only three have the
heart to actually make a difference – Sonya Blade, a
Special Forces agent; Johnny Cage, a movie star; and
Liu Kang, a
Shaolin monk who has turned his back
on his faith and training. Of these three, Raiden feels that only one will
decide the outcome of the tournament.

However, if Mortal Kombat was just a battle between warriors, the movie would be
a tad boring. As mentioned before, Shao Kahn is evil and thus, his henchmen are
suitably treacherous. Throughout the battles, the warriors of Earth constantly
have to watch each other’s backs to avoid the evil underhanded doings of Shang
Tsung. Aiding them in their struggle is Shoa Kahn’s adopted daughter, Princess Katana. Can Sonya, Johnny and Liu Kang confront and defeat their inner demons,
or will they be destroyed by them, thus sending the realm of Earth into a life
of turmoil at the hands of Shao Kahn?

When Mortal
Kombat first hit the theater, rumor had it that many scenes were cut in
order to have a rating that will allow the majority of gaming fans to attend the
movie without supervision. The rumors gained some validity when the novel
version of the movie based on the original screenplay contained more fight
scenes that were not in the actual theatrical release. However, that didn’t
deter gaming fans from loving what the people at New Line Cinema had done with
their favorite fighting game. Much of the movie was actually based on two games
within the Mortal Kombat series – Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II. The fight scenes were excellently choreographed by a team that
included Robin Shou. The knowledge that one of the lead actors of the film had
a hand in coordinating the fight scenes lead that much more credibility to the
film. Each fight was fast-paced and contained accompanying music that
heightened the action and added a rush of adrenaline to the excitement.
The music used for each fight combined to make one helluva pumping soundtrack
featuring songs by Gravity Kills,
KMFDM,
Psykosonik,
GZR,
The Immortals,
Utah Saints,
Sister Machine Gun,
Napalm Death,
George Clinton and more!

Each actor should be commended on a job well-done in bringing the characters of
a popular video game to life in a believable fashion. The casting department
made their choices well. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa played a perfectly evil Shang
Tsung, every word from his mouth double-edged and dripping with venom. Robin
Shou was excellent in his portrayal of Liu Kang, the former Shoalin monk who has
lost his way and has only entered the competition to exact revenge for the death
of his brother. Sonya Blade was masterfully portrayed by Bridgette Wilson, an
actress who had very little experience with martial arts and had to basically
learn all her moves from scratch. However raw her martial arts skills, Wilson
did a terrific job in the no-nonsense badass role. Linden Ashby added comic
relief in his portrayal of movie action hero Johnny Cage. I have yet to see
another actor who can fill the shoes of the Thunder-God Raiden as perfectly as
Christopher Lambert, despite the fact that he was replaced in the sequel to the
film by another actor. Not to take anything away from that other actor’s
performance, but the mysterious nature of Lambert’s voice as well as his acting
skill, made for a top notch portrayal. Even the smaller characters were
perfectly cast so as to mirror the look and style of the game characters.

The special effects could be jaunty at times – speeding and slowing cameras to
change the action sequence can have a tendency to do that – but you expect that
sort of thing when it comes to a movie based on this style of video game. There
is just no way to accurately represent Sonya Blade’s leg grab or Liu Kang’s
bicycle kick without a little trick photography. However, fans were pleased by
the effects that were used to create Scorpion’s fire breathing and bloody spear
throwing and Sub-Zero’s freezing powers. The effects used to create
Goro, the
four-armed Shokan Prince and undefeated Outworld warrior were impressive – the
resulting creature perfectly representing that of the Goro found in the video
game. The scenes in which reptile blends in with scenery were - to quote the
movie and the game – flawless.

Viewing this
movie for the first time on DVD, I was excited to note that there were some
special features. However, those special features fall flat when compared to
other DVDs of the time. There is an interactive menu that allows you to learn
about several characters in the film and you also are given the ability to view
the theatrical trailer. But, for the most part, the special features on the
Mortal Kombat DVD were disappointing. Throw us some deleted scenes! You
mean to tell me that there were no outtakes whatsoever?!

However
disappointed I was with the special features of this DVD, Mortal Kombat
continues to be one of my favorite movies. It was considered the first major
success for video-game movie adaptations by critics and game lovers alike. With
the invention of new special effects techniques, there is no telling what
Mortal Kombat would have evolved into had the movie been made today. But
even without the incredible effects found in Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat is
still a fan favorite and certainly worth watching…again…and again…and again.